Time To Fall
by Uchiha Mira
Summary: A look into Vegeta's thoughts in the final moments before he sacrifices himself to kill Majin Buu.


Disclaimer: I don't own DB/Z/GT, but I did get some pretty spiffy DBZ stickers as part of a b-day present the other day!!! ^_^  
  
A/N: I wrote this on impulse, so I'm kind of walking on eggshells about it. School starts up again tomorrow, but for once I'm feeling satisfied, as I've managed to post 3 different works during my week off. ^_^ I love writing about Vegeta, but strangely his POV came out quite different in this one. Please tell me what you think of this one, and if I need to improve on or change anything. Thanks!!!  
  
Time To Fall  
  
The heat is sweltering. My eyes sting from my sweat, and more drips down even as I wipe it away. I clutch my left arm and hot, sticky blood dribbles between my fingers. Pain shoots through my entire body, so great I can barely stand. Yet I refuse to fall; I will not give him that satisfaction.  
  
He is still out there, somewhere, undoubtedly bursting with rage by now. He will be back, that is certain, and very intent on finishing me off....but he is at a great disadvantage. His wrath can never match mine. I do not know what this creature - Majin Buu - is, but the Saiyan Prince will not be conquered by his hands. I will not let his master have the pleasure of watching me be beaten.  
  
If I have ever hated anyone, no-one compares with what I feel towards him. Babadi. The name itself awakens an anger even I did not know I possessed. I hate that deceiving little rodent of a wizard even more than I hated Frieza, for he has taken from me more than just my freedom. He has taken everything.  
  
I know my time is near. I have been battling Majin Buu for quite some time; how long I do not know, but long enough that my energy is almost completely drained. He is a foe unlike any other I have ever faced; nothing seems to phase him. It is infuriating to say the very least. But everyone has a weak point- no one is invincible. I am determined to find his.  
  
It's strange....in these last few hours, everything I was so sure of has changed or been stolen from me. I saw the power Babadi could give to me, could feel it coursing through my veins even before it was mine. I gave in to the temptation, greedy for the power he could grant me. I did not realize how much I would lose.  
  
I was sure that was all that mattered - to be a merciless warrior like I used to be, emotionless and invincible. I was convinced this was all I needed, all that was necessary for my being. I remember the days when I worked for Frieza; no cares crossed my mind, save the undying thirst for power and domination. I was unstoppable, and all cowered before me in terror. It was exhilarating; feeling the raw power within me, and the freedom to use it however I pleased with no-one to stand in my way. I should have realized that even then the power was not mine; it was Frieza's, and I was his slave. This is the same. I should have seen it, but I was blinded by my twisted ambition, and now I must pay the price.  
  
I know this landscape is the last that I will see. The barren ground, the scattered cliffs, the numerous piles of crumbled rock, signatures of the battle which has raged here. I know I will never leave this place; my fate was settled when I chose to stay while the Namekian carried my son and the other boy to safety. I know I am going to die.  
  
What surprises me is how set I am to do this. If someone told me about this later, I doubt I would leave them. I have always been intent on winning, determined to be on top. That was why I could never let go of that battle with Kakkarot so long ago; he defeated me once, and I became driven by an urge to surpass him. I could never understand how a third- class Saiyan such as he could cast his own prince into the shadows, how he always managed to be one step ahead of me, no matter how hard I trained or how far I advanced. How cruelly ironic that I finally understand when I am about to die. It surprises me also how openly I am admitting things like this; never before would I do so. It's odd how pride and barriers are discarded when you know death is upon you; life seems so much clearer in its last few moments.  
  
I believe at last that I have discovered the secret behind Kakkarot's unwanton success. Every battle he has fought he did so for the sake of another. He has always had loved ones to watch over and protect, a wife and son to defend. It is for them that he fights, the memory of them which drives him past his body's limits and grants him the power to conquer immeasurable odds. I have never had such a source of motivation....not until now.  
  
I have always been a selfish warrior. I fight for my gain alone, no-one else in my opinion has ever been worthy of the bloodshed of a Saiyan prince. For a time these means satisfied and sustained me. My obsession with pride, strength, and dark fame ruled all thoughts in my self-indulged brain. I used to dream of entire planets quaking at the mere mention of my name; its sound was like that of death itself.  
  
Then I came here. Here, this mudball of a planet full of pathetic weaklings unworthy to breathe the same air as I. This planet offered nothing, and yet I stayed. Against my will, it was here that I found something infinitely more sustaining than my cold killing sprees, though I tried to resist the contentment filling my being. My satisfaction came in the form of a human woman with silken turquoise hair and blue eyes I keep finding myself becoming lost in. It was Bulma, and later our son, which provided me with the meaning I needed to keep me from reverting back to my former, power-hungry self.  
  
And still, at times I found myself lusting for my murderous, coldly efficient ways. The sight of my mate, and the child which I helped create, began to anger me because of the soft emotions they invoked in me. They were constant reminders of how the cold warrior within me had diminished over the years. When Kakkarot returned today and I witnessed how far he still was above me, I almost came to hate them. I craved how I used to be, and firmly believed that it was their fault that I was no longer that heartless assassin. This was true of course....but I could not see that it was the better transformation.  
  
How foolish I was. I thought my old, merciless ways were what I truly wanted, so I let myself fall under Babadi's spell. I let him take me, let him do this to me; I let him make me his pawn. I feel only shame and regret now - such foreign emotions to me - I did not think it possible that I could be so idiotic and unseeing. Babadi's power over me is no different from those days I so loathe in which I was a minion of Frieza.  
  
As I fought with Kakkarot I realized my mistake, but by then it was too late. Babadi was not my answer - indeed, he is a greater enemy than even myself. I try to disobey his orders, try to ignore his commands. Each time I resist a searing pain slices through my head, tearing at my mind like white hot fire. I know I cannot last much longer against him; it is only a matter of time - and not much of that - before I become a complete slave to his will. I fear that more than anything.  
  
Yes, the almighty Prince of Saiyans has gone so far as to admit fear. I grit my teeth, but at the same time smile grimly. I realize now - now that I have forsaken everything - how much I have indeed lost. In freely giving my soul to Babadi, I have truly lost all that was important; my mate, my son, my home. Yes, I even grudgingly admit that this weak planet has over the years become home to me. I have power beyond my wildest dreams ready at my fingertips, but I despise it. I thought it was what I wanted, but I have found its price to be too high. It has cost me my only chance for happiness, and now those who matter most can never be mine again.  
  
I can see that fat blob of a monster, Buu, waddling towards this spot where I stand. No matter how hard I hit him, he is always coming back, never even slightly injured. Somewhere around here is his master, that repulsive lump of brown flesh which keeps this hold over my mind. I know that should his monster live, Babadi will eventually kill Bulma and Trunks, as will as everyone else on this planet, and he will laugh. There is not even a word dark and dirty enough to call him, he disgusts me so. He cannot even do his own work, he must get another to do it for him. Such a creature should not be permitted to live.  
  
There is only one way I can back at him for what he has done to me, and what he will do to my family should I let him.  
  
Kill his monster.  
  
I know Babadi is nothing without Buu....I only wish I could see his horror- stricken face as Buu dies. I can feel myself grinning at the very thought of it. He has taken me, tortured me, invaded my mind and enslaved my body. He has stripped from me all that was ever mine, and I will never forgive him. He will feel the heat of my unabated wrath, and he will suffer the irony of watching his monster die by the power which he himself granted me.  
  
I will not let him hurt those whom I love. I say it freely now - love. It has become clear to me, in these few last moments, that all my pride, my honor, my stony reputation - they all have no meaning. All that matters now are those who are waiting for me to return, though I know I never will. Trunks, Bulma...I can never be with them again, but I have one resolution. I will not let Babadi hurt them, will not let him have the last laugh. That privilege is mine.  
  
Kakkarot fights for his family, his planet. Now I will do the same. I know I will not survive, and I know where I am headed once I die. The thought of Hell does not please me, for I have been there before and never wish to return. But I am beyond the point of caring. I am this planet's last hope, and I know what I must do.  
  
It is time for this prince to fall.  
  
~~*~~  
  
A/N: This story came to me all at once while I was editing one of my other works. That last line just popped into my head, so I frantically started scribbling away on the backs of the printouts I was editing. *grins* I love it when a story hits me like that!! You may be thinking Vegeta was OOC because of the clear way he admitted his fears and emotions. Normally I'd agree, but from the way he acted in the episode Final Atonement before he died, plus the fact that you supposedly think more clearly before you die, I think that even Vegeta would stop trying to convince himself of things at that point. That episode was a major turning point for his character, so I believe he could be thinking things along these lines before he killed himself. But, if you disagree, please, tell me!! I'm still aiming for improvement, and this isn't my favourite of my works, so any suggestions are more than welcome. Thank you muchly!!! ^_^  
  
~Mira 


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